Google Does Geothermal Good?

A good announcement regarding Geothermal Energy.

Google was famously founded around the principle of “Don’t Be Evil”, then they removed it! Much to this Substack’s chagrin.

Anyway Google is back in the (Good) news with a blog post announcing that they’ve partnered with a clean-energy startup to develop a geothermal power project in Nevada and that partnership is now active and driving electricity to the energy grid.¹

Yay!

There’s a lot to celebrate here:

First and foremost, data centers eat up a ton of electricity! Ludicrous amounts. So finding carbon-neutral ways to power them is good. Carbon free is even better.

Next is the company Google has partnered with, Fervo. These guys (and girls) are doing really smart and interesting things. What caught my eye is that they are using state-of-the-art drilling tools and practices from the Oil industry to drill down and find heat wells. The irony of leveraging the oil industry to further the geothermal agency is delicious.

Finally there’s Geothermal Energy itself. It’s the oldest of power dynamics. Heat a liquid → Produce Some Steam → Spin a Turbine → Produce energy.

Courtesy of Cornell University (at best the 2nd best Ivy)

Old school energy from a new school company.

That’s good.

1. https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/google-fervo-geothermal-energy-partnership/